The Sioux fear the 1,172-mile pipeline could contaminate the drinking water for their nearby reservation and argue that granting a permit to developer Energy Transfer Partners to build beneath Lake Oahe would violate an 1851 treaty.

While celebrating his eldest son's lavish wedding, at which a number of famous singers and belly dancers performed, Nasser Hassan decided to "double the joy," he later recalled. He announced that his son Omar would marry his cousin Gharam.